La Femme Nikita Season 5 Episode 1 – Deja Vu All Over Again

Synopsis: La Femme Nikita avoided its own cancellation, for a bit anyhow, and Nikita returns to assist Section One and is still searching for why she was recruited in the first place.

Foreword: La Femme Nikita was cancelled at the end of Season Four. However, after the loyal fans rallied to show their support, LFN was renewed for an 8 episode Season Five. I’ve recorded some of my thoughts about this development in LFN Season Four Finale In Retrospect.

Flashbacks. Kinda like an evolution of Nikita. Nikita being framed for a crime she didn’t commit. Her continued desire to find out why she was recruited after discovering Section One was behind framing her (Outside The Box). And particularly what transpired after it was revealed that Nikita was in fact a spy for Center for the last three years (Season 4 Episodes 20, 21, and 22).

Section One. Nikita walks across the floor and checks in her gear. Quinn glares up at her momentarily as she passes. Operations greets her with some advice as she’s leaving for Center. He warns her that the dangers at Center are far worse because they’re more subtle and that Mr. Jones is not what he seems. Nikita appears to blow off the advice and walks out. Cut to Nikita cutting her long hair off; resulting in a short sexy Meg Ryan-like hairdo.

Center. An elegantly dressed Nikita walks down a plush hallway to a conference room where Mr. Jones is speaking with an assistant. "You sent for me?" Jones questions her recommendation concerning Section Six and informs her that he’s had a dozen other people disagree with it. She supports her decision. He agrees and sends his assistant, Michelle, to take care of sending the report to Committee. Nikita asks him about her recommendations for Section One. "All in good time…Now if there’s nothing else?" Nikita responds, "Just the matter of why I was recruited in the first place." He refuses to answer and ends the meeting. "I’m going to find out, one way or another."

Section One, White Room. Operations enters as the twins are interrogating a Red Cell operative. After using some high-tech equipment and threatening to take away his senses, the man gives in and tells the location of the new Red Cell substation.

Systems. Operations is at a terminal when O’Brien walks in. (A former cop that Nikita recruited in Season One to keep him from being killed. Voices) Without turning, Operations states, "Your record is impressive." O’Brien replies, "Thanks." Then Operations turns to face him, "That wasn’t a compliment. It was a complaint. The man you’re attempting to replace, Michael Samuelle, his record was spectacular." Operations tells him that he’ll have to improve then elaborates on the current situation. Two Red Cell operatives cracked and appear to be telling the truth. But both gave a different location of the new substation. O’Brien suggests they do a reverse sim on the two Red Cell operatives and triangulate a location by combining it with Section’s database on Red Cell. Operations seems a bit surprised but annoyed by the apparent over confidence. Then tells O’Brien to report to Ordinance.

Center. Jones and Nikita are discussing Section One’s situation on the new Red Cell substation. He informs her that their latest intel points to a central figure; Josef Dolmatov. (Nikita went undercover as his bodyguard on a previous mission.) Then Jones informs her that she’s going back to assist Section One, one mission only.

Section One, the next morning. Nikita walks to the center of the floor. All the top operatives are surrounding her as Operations dictates to everyone who she is and what she’s done; including her actions as a spy for Center for the past three years. He throughly puts everyone on alert, perhaps turning some ops against her, but warns everyone that they must work together. Then he dismisses everyone and steps closer to Nikita. "By the why, welcome back." Nikita just stands there and smiles as Operations walks away.

Briefing. Operations reads Josef Dolmatov’s profile. He’s an arms dealer, money launderer, and facilitator to terrorist activity. Quinn gives the details. Dolmatov is hosting a summit of terrorist organizations. Five days from now. Operations asks for her recommendation and she replies that the summit must be stopped. After a moment, Nikita disagrees, "That would be premature. Facilitate and destroy…that way we get the maximum number of hostiles." Quinn replies quickly, "Yes, of course." Then sits there with a mixture of embarrassment and anger on her face as Operations ends the briefing. Nikita offers, "It takes time." But Quinn glares back coldly, "Go to hell." Nikita just walks away.

Perch. Operations is reprimanding Quinn, "I gave you an opportunity and you looked bad. Worse, you made me look bad." She apologizes and states it won’t happen again and asks if their is anything she can do to make up for it. Operations informs her that he doesn’t believe Nikita’s report that her love for Michael was all an act. "She could’ve no more killed him than I could…" Operations looks away in thought as Quinn finishes, "Than you could’ve killed Madeline." After a pause, Quinn asks, "What do you want me to do?" "Prove that Michael is alive…it’ll cast doubt on Nikita’s whole report." Quinn exits stating she’ll get on it right away.

Munitions. Nikita tries to make some small talk with Forrester, Walter’s replacement, but he’s a bit rude. Then she asks him to readjust the infrared scopes. But he refuses saying that it is against regs and he goes by the books. Nikita tells him that most ops prefer it. "That old guy might have been wrapped around your finger, but I’m not." retorts Forrester. Nikita walks closer to him and circles behind him with a cold calculated glare before walking away. Forrester looks somewhat unnerved.

Systems. Nikita and O’Brien are on either side of an acrylic view screen going over some mission parameters. He asks if what Operations said was true. Nikita replies she did it because she thought it would allow her to change some of Section’s ways. O’Brien replies sarcastically, "A regular Florence Nightingale in Section." and walks away. A young operative, Kristof, walks up and introduces himself to Nikita. He tells her that a lot of ops are counting on her to change things. Nikita seems a bit touched by his sincerity but brushes by him.

Mission, outside Dolmatov’s mansion. Nikita appears beside the fence and checks in with Quinn as she observes the numerous guards and dogs pacing the grounds. Quinn replies that the security is higher than the initial scan revealed. "Wet or wired?" asks Nikita. "Both. This might be impossible." Nikita puts on some tinted glasses and observes the beams at the top of the fence. Then grabs an approaching guard through the iron fence and yanks him against it knocking him out. Quinn comes back, "At least let me disable the beams." "No. Stick to the profile." Nikita goes up and over the fence triggering the alarms. Inside, Dolmatov is conducting a meeting with his security men about raising the level of security. An alert comes in that the perimeter has been penetrated. Outside, Nikita ducks behind walls avoiding the guards till she reaches the side of the mansion. Nikita shoots a cable into the overhang on the mansion and slides silently up as the cable retracts into the launcher. Another alarm goes off and Dolmatov walks to the window, "What the hell is going on?" He sends two of his men to check it out. Just as he sits back down at his desk, Nikita crashes through the window. She knocks out his last goon with a kick to the head then leaps on to Dolmatov’s desk with gun leveled on him. "Hello Josef." She reminds him who she is. "What are you doing here?" "Looking for work. From what I’ve seen, you can use the help."

Outside, O’Brien makes it to the fence. Quinn begins manipulating the security system to let him in. He gets over the fence and chases off the dogs with some ultrasonic device. Then overrides the security panel at the door and enters a corridor where Quinn has raised the ambient temperature to confuse the motion detectors. Nikita and Josef are still talking about her fee. She agrees to his price, "And the same for my partner?" "Partner? I don’t like unknowns!" "I’ll introduce you to him. He’ll be here any minute." Almost sarcastically, "What, he’s just going to stroll right in here…my security is not that bad." A knock on the door. Dolmatov, tells the unseen person to come in expecting his own men. "Marco, Josef. Josef, Marco." Nikita smiles smugly at the stunned Josef Dolmatov.

Section One, Perch. Quinn reports to Operations that DNA traces were not found for Michael and two others. Further, Nikita’s location during the time frame is unaccounted for. Then she suggests that Operations wait till they contact each other and deliver them both to Center. Operations smiles, "You’re learning." "I have an excellent teacher."

Dolmatov’s Mansion. Terrorists are arriving. The man Nikita and Marco are assigned to protect has sent a replacement, Piket. O’Brien recalls a meeting with Piket a couple years ago. Nikita shields him as Piket enters and they escort him to his room. Piket flirts with Nikita on the way. As they enter the room, Piket reaches in his vest asking if Nikita smokes. Nikita whirls and shoots him with a silenced gun. O’Brien enters, "What’re you doing?" "He recognized you." She rolls Piket over with her foot, revealing that he was reaching for a gun not a smoke. Moments later, Nikita is scanning Piket’s face with a small device. The data is relayed to Section and Quinn replies that the masks will be there under four hours but there’s not enough time for a voice synthesizer. "You’re forgetting something. An abeyance op." says O’Brien. "We’ll use a silent drop." O’Brien replies, "Too risky. Nikita, reform Section after the mission." Nikita gives in and reluctantly tells Quinn to use an abeyance op.

Later, a vent pops off the wall and the abeyance operative pulls off his mask; it’s Kristof. He hands over the masks and starts to go back. O’Brien stops him. "I only have a two minute window." Nikita takes the masks and turns away inspecting them. "Your window just closed." O’Brien shoots him. Nikita is obviously bothered by another seemingly needless death. O’Brien gets into his mask of Piket and Nikita kneels down to put a mask on Piket making him look like Marco. The scene looks like the abeyance op broke in and killed Marco before Nikita could take him out. Quinn triggers the alarm bringing Dolmatov and his men into the room. Nikita snaps her gun in their direction, tears in her eyes, then lowers the gun in recognition and explains the scenario. Dolmatov asks Piket if he’s okay. Before he can speak, Nikita snaps, "He’s fine! But your security system needs work." Dolmatov and his men back out of the room.

Dolmatov Mansion, Downstairs. The men are gathering around a table for the meeting. Nikita stands some distance away in an adjoining room, she reports that everyone has arrived to Quinn. Operations gives the okay and a missile launches from a submarine and streaks across the sky. Just as the meeting gets underway, Piket (O’Brien) gets up and follows Nikita outside. Dolmatov follows asking if everything is okay. Nikita and O’Brien step behind a wall as the building explodes in flames.

Section One. Operations passes Nikita as she makes her way down a corridor to leave. "I’m afraid your departure has been delayed." He relates that some reports have come in that the men at the summit are still alive and Mr. Jones is waiting for them in Systems. Nikita and Operations enter Systems and a holographic image of Jones appears above the simulation table. Jones is not pleased and confirms that the men that supposedly died at the summit are still alive and well. Jones formally assigns Nikita to Section One as Operations’ deputy until things are put right. Then warns them to keep their personal agendas out of it. Nikita reminds Jones of their agreement, "I came back to Section three years ago because you made certain promises. It’s time you kept them." Jones replies, "Is that a threat?" "If you feel threatened by being asked to keep your word." Operations interjects, "Am I in command or is she?" Jones assures him that he is in operational command. However, Nikita has a certain degree of independence. Then Mr. Jones signs off after telling them to work together. Operations walks away. Nikita looks angry and disgusted.

Van Access. Walter enters. Nikita asks him to return to Section One and help her make some changes. He’s reluctant. "Would it matter if I apologized for
deceiving you?" Walter dismisses the offer, "It’s all water under the bridge." "Forrester is not in your class." "He’ll learn." Nikita seems to give up, "Guess that’s it then." "Guess so." Walter replies and starts for the door. "Suppose I said that you were the best man I ever met, and another day in Section without you seems unbearable. Would that matter?" Without turning. Walter smiles and replies, "It might." Nikita smiles as Walter steps through the door and it swings shut.